Cast & Chart

Omikuji lot 95 of 100

Golden Rooster, Fair Wind

吉 Kichi, Good fortune

志氣勤修業

禄位未造逢

若聞金雞語

乘舩得便風

With spirit and will, diligent in your calling,

rank and stipend have not yet been reached.

If you hear the golden rooster speak,

board the boat and find a favorable wind.

What this lot says

Real determination goes into study or trade and still has not arrived at any post or pay. Then comes a condition, the sound of a golden rooster. Once that call is heard, a boat is boarded and the wind is helpful.

Good sits on the far side of the rooster's voice in this lot, printed in the book as Kichi, Good fortune. The diligence of the first line is respected, while the poem ties the favorable wind to a signal it does not explain.

In today's language, this is someone who has done the preparation and is waiting for conditions to shift. What would count as the rooster in your case, and how sure are you that you would hear it?

A lot is a prompt for reflection. It cannot promise a result, and it is no substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.

The printed text

Where the 1684 printing differs

  • Line 3, character 2: 1684 printing has 見.

Credits

The verse and grade were read from the two scanned printings named here. The title, translation and reading are our own and modern.

Our own English. The kana commentary printed under each verse in the old books was not read.